Facebook bloqué, c’est Tweeter qui prend la relève. En Egypte comme en Tunisie les manifestants contournent le black out total de l’information par les médias électroniques. Et depuis plusieurs jours maintenant descendent dans les rues et demandent le départ de Hosni Moubarak, dictateur depuis trente ans maintenant – pire encore que Ben Ali pourrait-on dire qui n’aura fait "que" vingt-trois ans... À noter la médiocrité des médias français, sur l’Egypte comme sur la Tunisie, très en retrait sur l’information disponible, comme en atteste le fait qu’Alain Bertho, "émeutologue" de l’université de Saint-Denis qui recense méthodiquement toutes les infos relevant de sa spécialité, n’a qu’une pauvre dépêche AFP à se mettre sous la dent (sur son blog "anthropologie du présent"), alors que l’Associated Press, comme hier Reuters, ou la BBC, donnent infiniment plus d’éléments.
La France ? Une dictature solidaire des dictatures.
Égypte : heurts au Caire et à Suez
AFP
26/01/2011 |
Des affrontements ont opposé aujourd’hui des policiers et des manifestants dans le
centre du Caire et dans la ville de Suez, à l’est de la capitale égyptienne, ont rapporté des témoins et un journaliste de l’AFP sur place. Environ 2.000 personnes ont manifesté pour la deuxième journée consécutive à Suez, on rapporté des témoins. Trois manifestants avaient trouvé la mort à la suite d’affrontements hier dans cette ville portuaire, dont l’un est décédé mercredi des suites de ses blessures.
Au Caire, les affrontements ont eu lieu dans le centre-ville, près de la Cour suprême. La police a tiré des gaz lacrymogènes face aux manifestants qui jetaient des pierres, a constaté un journaliste de l’AFP. Un policier avait été tué mardi au Caire des suites de blessures reçues lors d’accrochages.
Les organisateurs des manifestations d’hier, la plus importante mobilisation de rue contre le président Hosni Moubarak depuis son arrivée au pouvoir en 1981, ont appelé à poursuivre le mouvement mercredi, malgré l’interdiction de tout rassemblement par les autorités. Ils entendent réclamer "le droit de vivre dans la liberté et la dignité".
Egypt police arrest 860 protesters as anti-government riots escalate
The Associated Press
Tens of thousands of Egyptians turn out for largest protests country has seen in years, inspired by Tunisia uprising; Facebook, Twitter, and cellphones appear to be partially blocked.
Egyptian security officials reported Wednesday that a total of 860 protesters have been arrested since anti-government protests broke out Tuesday.
Tens of thousands of Egyptians have turned out for the largest demonstrations Egypt has seen in years, inspired by the recent uprising in Tunisia. They demanded President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster and a solution to grinding poverty, rising prices and high unemployment.
Egyptian anti-government activists continued to clash with police for a second day Wednesday in defiance of an official ban on any protests. Beefed up police forces on the streets quickly moved in and used tear gas and beatings to disperse any demonstrations.
After nightfall Wednesday, more than 2,000 demonstrators were marching on a major downtown boulevard along the Nile when dozens of riot police with helmets and shields charged the crowd. It was a scene repeated throughout the day wherever demonstrators tried to gather.
They were the latest in outbursts of political discontent in Egypt that have been growing more frequent and more intense over the past year. Protests have erupted sporadically over police brutality, poverty and food prices, government corruption and mismanagement, and more recently sectarian strife between Christians and Muslims. Parliamentary elections in November were widely decried as fraudulent. Read more...
Egypt protests: Cairo and Suez see clashes with police
bbc.co.uk
26 January 2011
The government had warned that public gatherings would no longer be tolerated.
Police have clashed with anti-government protesters in two major Egyptian cities following Tuesday’s unprecedented protests, witnesses say.
Police broke up demonstrations in central Cairo, beating protesters with batons. Demonstrators also gathered in the eastern city of Suez.
Meanwhile security officials said at least 500 people had been arrested in a crackdown against the protests.
Public gatherings would no longer be tolerated, the interior ministry said.
Anyone taking to the streets against the government would be prosecuted, it added.
The BBC’s John Leyne in Cairo says the authorities are responding in familiar fashion, treating a political crisis as a security threat.
However, state news agency Mena quoted Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif as saying the government was committed to "freedom of expression by legitimate means". Police had acted with restraint, he said.
Protesters have been inspired by the recent uprising in Tunisia, vowing to stay on the streets until the government falls.
They have been using social networking sites to call for fresh demonstrations, but both Facebook and microblogging site Twitter appear to have been periodically blocked inside Egypt.
Stone-throwing
Following a "day of revolt" across Egypt on Tuesday in which four people died, protesters attempted to stage new demonstrations in Cairo on Wednesday.
“We believe that the open exchange of information and views benefits societies and helps governments connect with their people”
There were scuffles reported outside the journalists’ union building in central Cairo as hundreds of people gathered to protest. Read more...
Égypte: heurts au Caire et à Suez
AFP
26/01/2011 |
Des affrontements ont opposé aujourd’hui des policiers et des manifestants dans le centre du Caire et dans la ville de Suez, à l’est de la capitale égyptienne, ont rapporté des témoins et un journaliste de l’AFP sur place. Environ 2.000 personnes ont manifesté pour la deuxième journée consécutive à Suez, on rapporté des témoins. Trois manifestants avaient trouvé la mort à la suite d’affrontements hier dans cette ville portuaire, dont l’un est décédé mercredi des suites de ses blessures.
Au Caire, les affrontements ont eu lieu dans le centre-ville, près de la Cour suprême. La police a tiré des gaz lacrymogènes face aux manifestants qui jetaient des pierres, a constaté un journaliste de l’AFP. Un policier avait été tué mardi au Caire des suites de blessures reçues lors d’accrochages. Lire la suite...
Les organisateurs des manifestations d’hier, la plus importante mobilisation de rue contre le président Hosni Moubarak depuis son arrivée au pouvoir en 1981, ont appelé à poursuivre le mouvement mercredi, malgré l’interdiction de tout rassemblement par les autorités. Ils entendent réclamer "le droit de vivre dans la liberté et la dignité".
bbc.co.uk
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12289475
26 January 2011
The government had warned that public gatherings would no longer be tolerated
Police have clashed with anti-government protesters in two major Egyptian cities following Tuesday’s unprecedented protests, witnesses say.
Police broke up demonstrations in central Cairo, beating protesters with batons. Demonstrators also gathered in the eastern city of Suez.
Meanwhile security officials said at least 500 people had been arrested in a crackdown against the protests.
Public gatherings would no longer be tolerated, the interior ministry said.
Anyone taking to the streets against the government would be prosecuted, it added.
The BBC’s John Leyne in Cairo says the authorities are responding in familiar fashion, treating a political crisis as a security threat.
However, state news agency Mena quoted Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif as saying the government was committed to "freedom of expression by legitimate means". Police had acted with restraint, he said.
Protesters have been inspired by the recent uprising in Tunisia, vowing to stay on the streets until the government falls.
They have been using social networking sites to call for fresh demonstrations, but both Facebook and microblogging site Twitter appear to have been periodically blocked inside Egypt.
Stone-throwing
Following a "day of revolt" across Egypt on Tuesday in which four people died, protesters attempted to stage new demonstrations in Cairo on Wednesday.
“We believe that the open exchange of information and views benefits societies and helps governments connect with their people”
There were scuffles reported outside the journalists’ union building in central Cairo as hundreds of people gathered to protest.
Police beat some with batons and fired tear gas when they tried to break through a cordon, and protesters on nearby buildings threw stones.
Reuters news agency reported more clashes outside a central court complex in the city.
Witnesses say riot police have been charging demonstrators throughout the day wherever in Cairo they happen to gather.
Meanwhile, in the eastern city of Suez, crowds gathered outside the morgue where the body of a victim of Tuesday’s protests was being kept.
One of Tuesday’s demonstrators, Mostapha El-Shafey, told the BBC he planned to join protests again on Wednesday.
"I want to see an end to this dictatorship. Thirty years of (President Hosni) Mubarak is enough. We’ve had enough of the state of emergency. Prices are going up and up," he said.
Demonstrations are illegal in Egypt, which has been ruled by President Mubarak since 1981. The government tolerates little dissent and opposition demonstrations are routinely outlawed.
In Washington, the White House urged the Egyptian government to allow protests to go ahead, describing the situation as "an important opportunity to be responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian people".
Social media’s role
Tuesday’s protests were co-ordinated through a Facebook page, where organisers say they are taking a stand against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment. One page called for protesters all over Egypt to gather after prayers on Friday.
However, Wednesday brought reports that Facebook was being blocked inside Egypt.
Twitter also played a key part, with supporters inside and outside Egypt using the search term #jan25 to post news on Tuesday, but it was blocked later in the day.
BBC technology correspondent Mark Gregory says that while this clampdown has undoubtedly restricted access to information, technically minded protesters have found ways of evading the restrictions.
Many have stayed in touch by routing their messages through proxy servers - web facilities based in other countries.
The government blamed the violence on the banned Islamist movement the Muslim Brotherhood, although this group was reported to have been ambivalent about the protests.
One opposition leader, Mohamed ElBaradei, had called on Egyptians to take part in the protests.
Tunisia’s President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted from power and fled the country earlier this month, after weeks of protests in which dozens of people were killed.
Egypt has many of the same social and political problems that brought about the unrest in Tunisia - rising food prices, high unemployment and anger at official corruption.
However, the population of Egypt has a much lower level of education than Tunisia. Illiteracy is high and internet penetration is low.
There are deep frustrations in Egyptian society, our Cairo correspondent says, adding that Egypt is widely seen to have lost power, status and prestige in the three decades of President Mubarak’s rule.
[Source : anthropologie du présent]